Various means have been used in the prior art to counter ambush attacks against military personnel. In short range combat situations, such as found in the jungle and heavily treed areas, it is important that a high volume of firepower be available in order to assure combat success. In the past the individual soldier or patrol group caught in an ambush situation generally had only a limited ability to return high volume firepower. Standard infantry weapons using conventional munitions are inadequate to provide the necessary firepower and high volume firepower from automatic grenade launchers have problems with barrel rifling erosion. Those prior art munitions which utilized a shotgun type shell and payload were generally limited in down range effectiveness on a target because of the shot dispersion.